NOVOKUZNETSK – This was the topic of a practical media conference in Novokuznetsk that brought together 60 participants from 16 cities in the Kemerovo region. The participants not only talked about it, but also learned how to tell the good news with the help of photos, video and design.
“Often churches cannot present themselves convincingly, because they do not know how to do it, do not understand how to build the foundation of a media ministry properly, do not create their own brand,” says Irina Litvinova, head of the Communication Department of the Russian Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith. At a seminar on the basics of media ministry, she offered five commandments, the application of which can help any church create media projects: 1) be yourself, understand the individual qualities and values of your church; 2) build your own brand; 3) stay consistent; 4) choose your media; 5) have a system.
The conference started with this workshop in the evening of December 6. The whole day of December 7 was devoted to practice. Videographer Oleg Tagaev and photographer Ekaterina Stolyarova from Kemerovo taught media workers how to set up the camera and light, shoot photos and videos, process images and edit videos. At the master classes of Novosibirsk designers Anastasia Smelykh and Anastasia Senichkina, participants learned how to make merch for events, studied the Figma program, and created their own layouts from scratch.
Daniel Ponomarev, coordinator of the media ministry of the New Covenant Church in Perm, spoke about the rules of maintaining social media accounts and the legal aspects of this work. “I am not a lawyer, but a graphic designer, but in my ministry I often turn to the lawyers of the church to comply with all the requirements for maintaining social networks and the website. Media ministers should be aware of them when creating social media publications,” says Daniel.
The organizers — regional youth ministry coordinator Alexander Milyato and his assistant Olga Arykova — are waiting for feedback from the participants, but are already pleased that the conference gathered many committed and enthusiastic people. Among the participants was Stanislav Yakovlev, a pastor from Leninsk-Kuznetsky. He created his church's website himself, because he believes that the modern church should be represented on the Internet.
“This is the first media conference in our regional association in the last seven years. We really want the media ministry in the churches to develop, so that the message that the church has, with the help of media, reaches people. Therefore, we plan to continue meetings and training, maintain relationships, and help if help is needed,” Olga Arykova shared.
The Russian Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith/Pentecostals
